The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator activates aquaporin 3 in airway epithelial cells.
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Enhanced osmotic water permeability has been observed in Xenopus oocytes expressing cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. Subsequent studies have shown that CFTR activates an endogenous water permeability in oocytes, but that CFTR itself is not the water channel. Here, we show CFTR-dependent activation of endogenous water permeability in normal but not in cystic fibrosis human airway epithelial cells. Cell volume was measured by novel confocal x-z laser scanning microscopy. Glycerol uptake and antisense studies suggest CFTR-dependent regulation of aquaporin 3 (AQP3) water channels in airway epithelial cells. Regulatory interaction was confirmed by coexpression of CFTR and AQP3 cloned from human airways in Xenopus oocytes and of CFTR and rat AQP3 in Chinese hamster ovary cells. These findings indicate that CFTR is a regulator of AQP3 in airway epithelial cells. (+info)
Transport of water and glycerol in aquaporin 3 is gated by H(+).
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Aquaporins (AQPs) were expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes in order to study the effects of external pH and solute structure on permeabilities. For AQP3 the osmotic water permeability, L(p), was abolished at acid pH values with a pK of 6.4 and a Hill coefficient of 3. The L(p) values of AQP0, AQP1, AQP2, AQP4, and AQP5 were independent of pH. For AQP3 the glycerol permeability P(Gl), obtained from [(14)C]glycerol uptake, was abolished at acid pH values with a pK of 6.1 and a Hill coefficient of 6. Consequently, AQP3 acts as a glycerol and water channel at physiological pH, but predominantly as a glycerol channel at pH values around 6.1. The pH effects were reversible. The interactions between fluxes of water and straight chain polyols were inferred from reflection coefficients (sigma). For AQP3, water and glycerol interacted by competing for titratable site(s): sigma(Gl) was 0.15 at neutral pH but doubled at pH 6.4. The sigma values were smaller for polyols in which the -OH groups were free to form hydrogen bonds. The activation energy for the transport processes was around 5 kcal mol(-1). We suggest that water and polyols permeate AQP3 by forming successive hydrogen bonds with titratable sites. (+info)
Renal expression of aquaporins in liver cirrhosis induced by chronic common bile duct ligation in rats.
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Semiquantitative immunoblotting was used to investigate the expression levels of the four major renal aquaporins, the Na-K-2Cl cotransporter of the thick ascending limb, the type 3 Na-H exchanger, and the Na-K-ATPase in kidneys from rats with cirrhosis secondary to common bile duct ligation (CBDL). These rats had significant water retention and hyponatremia. In contrast to models of cirrhosis induced by carbon tetrachloride, aquaporin-2 expression in CBDL-induced cirrhosis was decreased. Thus, these results show that in the setting of extracellular fluid volume expansion, excessive water retention with hyponatremia can occur in the absence of increases in aquaporin-2 abundance. In addition, the expression levels of the two basolateral collecting duct aquaporins (aquaporin-3 and -4) were decreased in CBDL rats relative to sham-operated control rats. Similarly, the Na-K-2Cl cotransporter of the thick ascending limb and the type 3 Na-H exchanger showed decreases in expression. In contrast, the expression levels of aquaporin-1 and the all subunit of the Na-K-ATPase were not decreased. Thus, dysregulation of multiple water channels and ion transporters may play a role in water balance abnormalities associated with CBDL-induced cirrhosis in rats. (+info)
Functional characterization and localization of AQP3 in the human colon.
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Water channels or aquaporins (AQPs) have been identified in a large variety of tissues. Nevertheless, their role in the human gastrointestinal tract, where their action is essential for the reabsorption and secretion of water and electrolytes, is still unclear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the structure and function of water channels expressed in the human colon. A cDNA fragment of about 420 bp with a 98% identity to human AQP3 was amplified from human stomach, small intestine and colon by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and a transcript of 2.2 kb was expressed more abundantly in colon than in jejunum, ileum and stomach as indicated by Northern blots. Expression of mRNA from the colon of adults and children but not from other gastrointestinal regions in Xenopus oocytes enhanced the osmotic water permeability, and the urea and glycerol transport in a manner sensitive to an antisense AQP3 oligonucleotide, indicating the presence of functional AQP3. Immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence studies in human colon revealed that the AQP3 protein is restricted to the villus epithelial cells. The immunostaining within these cells was more intense in the apical than in the basolateral membranes. The presence of AQP3 in villus epithelial cells suggests that AQP3 is implicated in water absorption across human colonic surface cells. (+info)
The role of aquaporins in dendritic cell macropinocytosis.
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Immature dendritic cells (DCs) constitutively take up large volumes of fluid by macropinocytosis and concentrate the macrosolutes in the endocytic compartment. This concentration mechanism that is the basis of their high capacity to present soluble antigens requires that DCs be capable of rapidly exchanging water across their membranes. We report that two members of the aquaporin family, AQP3 and AQP7, are expressed in immature DCs and are downregulated after maturation. Treatment of DCs with p-chloromercuribenzenesulphonate (pCMBS), a mercuric drug that blocks aquaporins, inhibited uptake and concentration of macrosolutes taken up by fluid phase endocytosis and led to dramatic cell swelling. In contrast, pCMBS did not affect receptor-mediated endocytosis via the mannose receptor. These findings indicate that aquaporins represent essential elements of a volume control mechanism that allows DCs to concentrate macrosolutes taken up via macropinocytosis. (+info)
Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus in mice lacking aquaporin-3 water channels.
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Aquaporin-3 (AQP3) is a water channel expressed at the basolateral plasma membrane of kidney collecting-duct epithelial cells. The mouse AQP3 cDNA was isolated and encodes a 292-amino acid water/glycerol-transporting glycoprotein expressed in kidney, large airways, eye, urinary bladder, skin, and gastrointestinal tract. The mouse AQP3 gene was analyzed, and AQP3 null mice were generated by targeted gene disruption. The growth and phenotype of AQP3 null mice were grossly normal except for polyuria. AQP3 deletion had little effect on AQP1 or AQP4 protein expression but decreased AQP2 protein expression particularly in renal cortex. Fluid consumption in AQP3 null mice was more than 10-fold greater than that in wild-type litter mates, and urine osmolality (<275 milliosmol) was much lower than in wild-type mice (>1,200 milliosmol). After 1-desamino-8-d-arginine-vasopressin administration or water deprivation, the AQP3 null mice were able to concentrate their urine partially to approximately 30% of that in wild-type mice. Osmotic water permeability of cortical collecting-duct basolateral membrane, measured by a spatial filtering optics method, was >3-fold reduced by AQP3 deletion. To test the hypothesis that the residual concentrating ability of AQP3 null mice was due to the inner medullary collecting-duct water channel AQP4, AQP3/AQP4 double-knockout mice were generated. The double-knockout mice had greater impairment of urinary-concentrating ability than did the AQP3 single-knockout mice. Our findings establish a form of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus produced by impaired water permeability in collecting-duct basolateral membrane. Basolateral membrane aquaporins may thus provide blood-accessible targets for drug discovery of aquaretic inhibitors. (+info)
Aquaporin 3 cloned from Xenopus laevis is regulated by the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator.
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The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is essential for epithelial electrolyte transport and has been shown to be a regulator of epithelial Na(+), K(+), and Cl(-) channels. CFTR also enhances osmotic water permeability when activated by cAMP. This was detected initially in Xenopus oocytes and is also present in human airway epithelial cells, however, the mechanisms remain obscure. Here, we show that CFTR activates aquaporin 3 expressed endogenously and exogenously in oocytes of Xenopus laevis. The interaction requires stimulation of wild type CFTR by cAMP and an intact first nucleotide binding domain as demonstrated for other CFTR-protein interactions. (+info)
Dysregulation of renal aquaporins and Na-Cl cotransporter in CCl4-induced cirrhosis.
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BACKGROUND: Severe hepatic cirrhosis is associated with abnormal renal water retention. METHODS: Semiquantitative immunoblotting was employed to investigate the abundance of the major renal aquaporins (water channels) and sodium-dependent cotransporters in kidneys from control rats and rats with cirrhosis secondary to chronic CCl4 inhalation. RESULTS: The cirrhotic rats had ascites and manifested a water excretion defect detected by a standard water-loading test. The abundance of aquaporin-1 (the major aquaporin in the proximal tubule) was increased, an effect markedly accentuated in high-density membrane fractions prepared by differential centrifugation. Differential centrifugation studies demonstrated a redistribution of aquaporin-2 from high-density to low-density membranes, compatible with increased trafficking of aquaporin-2 to the plasma membrane. The abundance of aquaporin-3, but not aquaporin-2, was increased in collecting ducts of rats with CCl4-induced cirrhosis. The Na-K-2Cl cotransporter of the thick ascending limb showed no change in abundance. However, the abundance of the thiazide-sensitive Na-Cl cotransporter of the distal convoluted tubule was markedly suppressed in cirrhotic rats, possibly contributing to a defect in urinary dilution. CONCLUSIONS: In this model of cirrhosis, the development of a defect in urinary dilution may be multifactorial, with contributions from at least four abnormalities in transporter regulation: (1) an increase in the renal abundance of aquaporin-1, (2) a cellular redistribution of aquaporin-2 in the collecting duct compatible with trafficking to the plasma membrane without an increase in total cellular aquaporin-2, (3) an increase in the renal abundance of aquaporin-3, and (4) a decrease in the abundance of the thiazide-sensitive cotransporter of the distal convoluted tubule. (+info)